This is a collaborative post.
Considering visiting Greece for the first time? Discover which Greek islands are best-known for their food and drink offering, and what to eat while you’re there.
From the white-washed villages of the Cyclades, to the historical old town of Rhodes, and the beautiful Byzantine monuments in Thessaloniki, there is no shortage of reasons to visit Greece.
Later this year, I’m considering visiting Greece for the first time, as it’s one of several destinations I can fly to from nearby Cardiff Airport and, after the recent airport delays we’ve seen, flying from a smaller airport would certainly help me to feel more at ease about my travel plans for the foreseeable future.
Plus, I’m not going to lie, I can’t wait to eat my body weight in indulgent Greek food, not to mention guzzle gallons of Greek wine. If I don’t end up putting on at least half a stone in Greece, I’ll be seriously disappointed in myself.
Ahead of my potential trip, I’ve been doing some research into which Greek islands are best to visit if you’re looking to experience the best of what the country’s food and drink scene has to offer. While it seems as though there’s great food (and drink) to be had in just about every corner of Greece, here are the three islands I’m most excited about visiting in the name of gorging on gourmet Greek food.
Which are the best Greek islands for food lovers?
Crete
As Greece’s largest island, Crete has a wide network of farmers, food producers and suppliers to draw upon, so most ingredients are sourced locally.
What’s more, as Crete is so big, it’s home to a broad variety of eateries, from traditional tavernas and roadside restaurants, to fine dining establishments.
Popular Cretan foods include local honey, cheese (often used to make sweet pastries), olive oil and, to drink, Cretan wine or ‘raki’ (Cretan grappa). Loukoumades (fried dough with nuts and honey) are a real hit here, too; I mean, it’s hardly surprising really – they sound like they’d go down well anywhere!
Santorini
We’ve got islands like Santorini to thank for the postcard-perfect pictures of Greece we see sprawled across our Instagram feeds, dominated by white-washed villages embraced by azure coastlines.
While this style of architecture can actually be found throughout the Cyclades, if you tap phrases like ‘luxury hotels greece‘ into Google while searching for your dream Greek getaway, you’ll most likely be presented with iconic images of Santorini or, perhaps, Mykonos (although the latter tends to attract a younger, more lively crowd).
As an island with volcanic heritage, Santorini is also known for its stunning black sand beaches, although there’s a popular red sand beach to be seen here too.
Santorini’s breathtaking architecture and beautiful beaches aren’t the only reason to consider visiting this particular island, however. The local cuisine is a real pull factor, too.
While you’ll find plenty of trusty classics like moussaka, gyros and souvlaki in Santorini, apparently some of the local classics are a must-try, too. The Santorini tomato fritters (made using a variety of tomato that doesn’t grow anywhere else in the world) and the pureed fava beans mentioned in this blog post sound pretty awesome to me.
Corfu
Corfu pops up in just about every article I read about the Greek food scene and, as it’s a popular island for tourists to visit, it seems like a safe bet for my first time visiting Greece. This is just as well really, as it’s the only part of Greece you can fly to from Cardiff Airport at the moment, so it’s most likely where I’ll end up going!
Popular meat dishes to eat in Corfu include sofrito (veal cooked with white wine, garlic and pepper), grilled lamb, stifado (veal cooked with onions in tomato sauce) and pastitsada (veal or chicken meat cooked with tomatoes, cinnamon, wine, onions and spices). Yep, veal is a big thing here!
However, Corfu’s most popular local dish is a fish dish known as bourdeto, and consists of fish cooked in a spicy tomato sauce with hot red pepper and, occasionally, potatoes. Besides this, the island has a great reputation for its other fish dishes too. I love the sound of savuri – fried fish served with a sauce of garlic, rosemary, vinegar and raisins.
While this is by no means of an exhaustive list of the best Greek islands for foodies, I hope I’ve given you a few ideas on what part of Greece to visit if you’ll be travelling with food in mind! No doubt I’ll be updating this post when I finally get to visit Greece for myself, hopefully later on this year.
Have you been to Greece before? Let me know your favourite islands for foodies in the comment box below.
This is a collaborative post.